[SoNE Episode V] Big Rig

[VK-318]

After our defeat over Sullust, the Avenger was transferred away from the front lines, to a remote forest moon named Endor. Once there, we were to assist in the construction of a secret shield-generator facility and support structures. The commander of the fleet conducting the project ordered the Avenger to provide reinforcements for the ground crews.

This proved to be more complicated than the commander had likely anticipated. As much of our vehicular equipment had been rendered inoperable for some time in the fighting on Nar Eurbricka, Captain Erdbeereis sent only infantry reinforcements. But the forest floor of Endor is a maze of steep ravines choked with tangled undergrowth, and a patrol of infantrymen out in it would be nothing more than a pop-up target for all the Ewoks, Sanyassans, and other unholy creatures in that wilderness to practice on. The ground supervisor made the obvious decision: he transferred walker crews from construction to patrol duties. In order to keep the pace of construction up, replacement crews for the construction work were taken from among the Avenger's men. And, once again out of the command of General Brickdoctor, I found myself slotted into another pathetic position based on the presence of "Enlisted Specialist" on my record. I was selected to pilot one of the AT-CT walkers being used for the project.

It wasn't that the job I was supposed to do was terribly complex - I was mostly there to supervise a couple of construction drones while they installed pre-fabricated segments of a landing pad.

But did they really have to put me on top of the landing pad? When officers were going around finding men to work the walkers, we had been asked if we had previously piloted heavy equipment, and I had answered, honestly, yes. But piloting an AT-ST is usually a highly skilled task, even more so since this one was a one-man walker. The All-Terrain Construction Transport's tractor beam claws, which replaced the AT-ST's side-mounted weapons, were usually worked by a gunner, but this walker had been modified for a single-man crew. This meant that I had to operate both the claws and the legs at the same time.

I'm not sure I actually accomplished anything of value up there, so busy was I trying not to trip over my walker's toes and fall fifty meters to the ground, where I could either be crushed in my walker or sucked up by a shredder. These were finally running again thanks to a little trouble-shooting from the boys at Hanger 29, and sure enough there was one prowling around the bottom of my landing pad, cleaning up the undergrowth and construction debris.

Thankfully, I was withdrawn shipside before any any serious accidents occurred. Someone in Personnel had a job for me, it seemed.

OoC: My first really original build in LDD - primarily I use the software for storing virtual copies of MOC's for later reference or prototyping a design before I break out the bricks. Big thank you to BEAVeR, who did the rendering on these shots - without his help I probably would have been stuck with using LDD screenshots since I'm both a somewhat slow learner where computers are concerned and a notable procrastinator.

Edit: I thought I linked to the .lxf here back when I posted. Evidently not. Here it is: http://www.brickshel...ng_platform.lxf. And while I'm at it, here's the completed platform, without any vehicles, incorporating some suggestions from BEAVeR in his comment below and an idea for the sloped connection between platform and towers that I thought of a bit too late to incorporate into the final build: http://www.brickshelf.com/gallery/Vargonius/SoNE/BigRig/completed_platform.lxf.

[Lord Tyrus]

It's nice to see a microscale MOC, I don't think we have we've had one this episode! The story is good and I like the landing platform, but I think the ground foliage could use a bit of work maybe. The flower stems look a bit odd, maybe use some smaller trees instead? Anyway, don't think I don't like this, I do!

[Lobot]

Good work VK-318, the Imperials could win this one yet! It's always good to see something out of the ordinary, and you've done a great job of depicting the construction of the landing platform with a minimum of parts. Obviously, there's a few issues with the scale for re-creating foliage, but the micro-shredder is very cute!

[Wat Tambor]

Great to see a micro scale entry for this challenge. I didn't know they are allowed because they don't show the builders charakter.

Your work looks nice, what kind of vehicle is the one on the ground? Some sort of TIE Crawler for construction purposes?

Maybe some micro scale trees at the edge of the build would have been nice, but all in all it's a nice creation.

[VK-318]

Thanks all, you're definitely right about the foliage. Trees and the like are not exactly my strong suit! That vehicle on the ground is based on the piece of a "shredder" that Goatman461 showed in a picture as part of his episode build a while back. The specific picture that showed it has since vanished, but by then I was too attached to the idea to get rid of it. I found a way to recreate the little bit that he showed and then added Technic parts to it until I had a complete vehicle. The TIE-style cockpit was deliberate - I figured it gave an Imperial touch to something that wasn't otherwise very Imperial-looking.

@Wat Tambor - As long as you can explain how your character is in the scene, micro builds are allowed. For an example of what I mean, take a look at BEAVeR's micro forced-perspective build for Episode IV here: http://www.eurobricks.com/forum/index.php?showtopic=94648. BEAVeR's character is never shown, but it's quite clear where he is and how he is involved in what's going on in the build.

[Nom Carver]

Simple yet effective, a very nice build and very recognizable, I also think that the vegetation needs a little work, but other than that, it looks great.

[LucasLaughing]

Good work! I like your story/writing, and the landing platform is excellent! Those 1x1 technic bricks work really well for the corridors.

[markus1984]

Really amazing Micro MOC what you made of the landing platform!

The vehicles are great too and of course the beautiful details you are well managed.

markus

[BEAVeR]

Wow (this is me acting surprised ), what a beautiful piece of micro building. I know how hard it is to build in micro scale, and you deliver both great vehicles and a nice overall composition! The story is great too, and after a bit research I found that everything is perfectly canon (like the AT-CT)! You must have a thorough knowledge of the EU, and it's great to see so much thought put into an entry, even though it isn't very big.

When I say I like the composition, that might sound a bit abstract. Let me clarify: I like how your MOC really is built from the ground. you have the natural earth colors there. Then the static platform emerges, all grey. And suddenly you have some splendid colors. The yellow of the drones definitely screams construction. And the dark grey of the platform ensures the light grey walker is still visible. The yellow markings are a great touch too. The drones seem really busy too: their actions and positions seem to have purpose, as if they're very dedicated to building. This forms some nice contrast with the pointless looking walker. Staring around without purpose, without something to do, with all the action of the drones and the shredder around. This composition already tells a story on its own. You could make the feeling stronger by putting the walker nearer to an edge and not facing directly to the action. That will make it look really absent, and could produce some pretty homorous effects.

The build itself is quite nice as well. The platform does a lot with a few pieces. It's clear what it represents, and the octagonal columns and Technic bricks deliver the details to keep it interesting. That area where the columns suddenly gets narrower at the connection gives it a weaker impression though. And I think that gap could easily be closed (in fact, I know, since I tried it out on your model ). There are two options. 1) Place that super SNOT brick at the top of the two-plate-high construction, and put the two 1x1 plates below it. This will connect seamlessly to the existing construction, since it uses the fundamental SNOT property that 5 stacked plates are as high as a two plates at their side. The disadvantage is that you'll have a hollow stud at the top. 2) Leave that SNOT brick with 4 studs on the side where it is, but flip it, so that the stud faces downward. You can connect it (again seamlessly) by placing the 2x2 round plate with hole in the middle (15535) on the column. You could even reinforce with a bar. At the top, you would end up the 'inside' of a plate, which makes for some nice detailing. And the round 2x2 plate is better then those angles sticking out with the 2x2 square plate right now. - This might be a very technical section on a little detail, but it is to show you that there are often multiple solutions to solve problems that seem rather minor. But when building on micro scale, those small mistakes count, so they deserve attention as well. You have to build very carefully...

The vehicles are nice as well, and I think they are as good as it gets with micro vehicles, when you only use basic parts. They are all really nice builds, and it's clear what they have as function. And I like the articulation you've crammed in some of them. but while coo, they lack a bit of detail. So you could improve by using more specialized parts (and because you're using LDD, you have acces to them anyway). Take the AT-CT. When looking at reference material, the thing I notice first (these are the most important features, and are the elements your micro build has to depict to be easily recognizable, so these are the things you have to begin with) are the rather odd tractor beam claws. Yours tries to depict it, but not accurately enough. Using Wolverine's claws (10187) or Hassasin Braces (88811), you could add more detail. And that cone maybe isn't the best representation of the nozzle, as it is too prominent and badly placed. A specialized plate like the one with a click hinge mounted vertically on it (30383) would make for more accurate detailing. I can't really comment on the other vehicles, since they're not based on existing vehicles. But keep in mind that small, specialized parts (mostly found as minifig accesories) will make your micro models look way more detailed, recognizable and interesting. It really pays off to have a closer look at all available parts (LDD is a good place to start). Then when you see a vehicle, you can almost see the parts you need appearing before your eyes, and then you only have to connect them to a nice model. But then you'll begin from the crucial features, which is crucial for micro building. At least, this is the way I work, and I hope that that method has resulted in some nice builds. I hope this tactique will make it easier for you to build stunning micro models. And it goes beyond micro building, because sometimes very detailed builds are just an arrangement of micro pieces. So get to know your parts, and your models will become way more rich!

A final paragraph goes to the environment. I think you tried your best to give us some realistic and detailed vegetation. The color variation and height difference is very good, although the height difference could be a bit expanded on. The stems are just okay though. First of all, the fact they're even there is a bit weird, as you would expect that the entire site would have been cleared before the construction. Maybe it has grown back, but then it wouldn't be so high. So they don't have to be there, and that would save you lots of problems with micro foliage. To prevent the area looking empty, you could fill it with something that would make more sense: resources for the construction. Because now we don't see where the parts that are being assembled are coming from, and that makes the build a bit less comprehensive. You would use the shredder though, so you could place it more to the side, and that would make the connection with the walker stronger. Or make run across the front of the MOC (a straight line would show some more methodology too). The you could really see the path of destruction behind it: some 'fallen stems', represented with e.g. lightsaber blades, would be extra nice and more unique. Or a studded path behind it and a tiled path before it. And alternatives for the stem pieces would be the very basic flower pieces that come in Creator houses (part 4727 and the like), or those bracelet pieces (33291).Or you could be more creative and use specialized parts that where never intended to be used as vegetation (see previous paragraph).

So I hope these tips (that are rather specific, but hopefully speak of a more general approach) can help you to make even better micro scenes. Because we already have some great stuff right here, and I would love to see more micro building of you! But if I don't, well, I already have this nice build. But please continue, if not for me, for all the XP you could gain (you greedy trooper! ). In the end, all I want to say with this complicated babble is just that I really adore this tiny build!

[VK-318]

Thanks for the tips! To your points about the walker build, I did try to the 1x2 tile with click hinge you're talking about, but the stud felt out of place. In retrospect, though, it still probably would have worked better. And with the claws, I certainly will try to make more use of those sorts of minifig accessories in the future. I have a pretty basic selection of real minifigs here, so those parts just aren't the first things to come to mind - yet.

The vegetation is, I freely admit, pathetic. Plants aren't my strong suit, and at the time I used this method I had just spent an hour trying to position the shredder the way I wanted it and was kind of short on patience. No excuse, to be sure, but that's the way it went.

I tried your first method for fixing that gap. I don't remember why I didn't use it - I think I changed the design of the columns once or twice after I tried it before returning to this, and by that time I had forgotten all about it. I really like the solution involving the 2x2 round tiles. Only problem? I didn't know they existed. I wish I had, though. That would be the perfect fix for that gap.

Again, thanks for the compliments, they are much appreciated. Thanks for the tips, they will be put to good use both in and out of SoNE. And thanks again for the renders, since I am possibly the leading procrastinator of SoNE and might will never have gotten around to them at all.